Refrigeration apparatus



Dec. 18, 1951 TOBEY REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed Aug. 6, 1949 INVENTOR RAYMOND E TOBEY Q WITNESSES: yfi/W 41%;;

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 18, 1951 REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Raymond E. Tobey, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 6, 1949, Serial No. 108,959

3 Claims. (Cl. 62-1173) This invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and more especially to a refrigerator havin a number of chambers maintained at diilerent temperatures.

It is an object of this invention to provide a simple refrigeration system adapted to maintain a plurality of food storage chambers at different refrigerating temperatures.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a refrigerator cabinet having two food storage compartments; and

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the refrigerating coils of this invention and a phantom view of the inner liner of the refrigerator of Fig. 1 to which liner the coils are secured. Fig. 2 also shows the refrigerating apparatus which supplies these coils with a volatile refrigerant liquid.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral Ill designates a refrigerator cabinet having an inner metal liner l2 separated into two food storage compartments l4 and It by a horizontal partition II. The lower compartment l6 is refrigerated by a metal tube secured to the outer surface of the metal food liner l2. This tube2ll is convoluted along the bottom wall and extends upwardly along the 'side and rear walls of the compartment It.

The tube 20 communicates with a smaller tube 22 at about the elevation of the partition is. The tube 22 extends upwardly along the rear wall of the liner I2 of the compartment l4 and .-then passes sidewardly along the rear wall and the side walls of the upper compartment l4. The tube then descends downwardly along one of the side walls to a refrigerant header 24 located on the side wall of the lower compartment is. The refrigerant header 24 separates the refrigerant liquid from the refrigerant vapor and also cools the lower compartment It. The sldewardly extending loops of the tube 22 are sloped to drain into the tube 20 and are of sufiicient size to afford such draining. Tube 20 is sufllciently large to hold all of the refrigerant liquid draining into it.

A suction conduit 22 connects the header 24 with the interior of a sealed casing 28 which encloses a refrigerant compressor 30 and an electric motor 22 for driving the same. A quantity of lubricating oil 241s also located in the casing vapor from the interior of the casing 28 through an inlet port 38, compresses the vapor and passes it through a conduit 38 to an air-cooled condenser 40 wherein the refrigerant vapor is liquefied. The liquefied refrigerant vapor then passes through a capillary tube 42 into the tube 20. The capillary tube 42 is the only pressure reducing device in the refrigeration apparatus.

The motor 32 is energized from a source of electric power through leads 44, and a thermostatic switch 46 is located in one of the leads 44. The thermostatic switch 46 is controlled by a temperature-sensitive element comprising a bulb 48 containing a volatile liquid and a tube 5H for transmitting the vapor pressure of this liquid to the mechanism of the switch 46. The thermostatic switch 48 is arranged to close when the vapor pressure of the volatile liquid rises above a predetermined limit and to open when this pressure drops to a predetermined limit which is lower than the first-named predetermined limit. The vapor pressure is responsive to the temperature of the bulb 48.

The refrigerant tube 20 is coiled along the bottom of the lower compartment to provide a Operation Since the refrigerant compressor 90 is started and stopped in response to the temperature of the bulb 48, the compressor 30 will have periods of activity and inactivity. During the inactive period, following an active period, the refrigerant liquid in the tube 22 drains into the tube 20 and into the header 24, so that the tube 22 is devoid of refrigerant liquid at the, start of the next active period.

' liquid in the header 24 and in the tube 2! ya- 28. The compressor 20 withdraws refrigerant porizes and cools the lower compartment ll.

After a short period of time, refrigerant liquid will be supplied through the capillary tube 42 to one end of the conduit 20. As the compressor 30 continues in operation, some of the refrigerant vapor formed in tube 20 will carry refrigerant liquid along with it into the tube 22 where this refrigerant liquid commences to vaporize and cool the compartment [6. Some of the refrigerant liquid in the tube 22 will be carried downwardly into the header 24 to replace the liquid which has vaporized therein. When the bulb 48 has been cooled'by the continued vaporization of the refrigerant liquid in the tube 22 to the predetermined temperature at which the switch 46 opens, the compressor 30 will stop and a period of inactivity ensues, during which the refrigerant liquid drains from the tube 22.

During each period of activity of the compressor 36 the lower compartment I6 is thus refrigerated during substantially the total length 'of the active period while the upper compartment I4 is cooled only during the latter part of the period. This, together with the high percentage of wall surface of compartment l6 that is refrigerated compared to that of compartment l4 accounts for the lower temperature in the com partment l6. Compartment I6 is thus suitable for the freezing of foods and the storage of frozen foods, whereas the compartment I4 is maintained at a temperature suitable for ordinary refrigerated storage at a temperature of about 40 degrees F.

It will be apparent from the above that this invention provides a simple refrigerating system for maintainin several food storage compartments at different refrigerating temperatures.

While I haveshown the invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is: A v

1. In a refrigerator having a first and a second food storage chamber, a first evaporator adapted to cool said first chamber, a second evaporator adapted to cool said second chamber, said first and second evaporators being connected in series, refrigerant compressing and condensing apparatus for supplying said first evaporator with liquid refrigerant and for withdrawing refrigerant vapor from said second evaporator and means for actuating said apparatus intermittently to maintain the temperature of said second chamber between predetermined limits, said second evaporator being located above said first evaporator, said second evaporator comprises a tube having a flow area smaller than the flow area of said first evaporator, the construction and arrangement being such that the velocity of the gaseous refrigerant entering the tube during active periods of the compressing and condensing apparatus is increased to a value at which liquid refrigerant is carried in suspension in the gaseous refrigerant entering the tube, said tube being inclined for the gravitational flow of liquid refrigerant to the first evaporator during inactive periods of the compressing and condensins apparatus.

-header, said tube being located above said first evaporator and said header and forming an evaporator for cooling said second chamber, refrigerant compressing and condensing apparatus for supplying refrigerant liquid to said first evaporator and for withdrawing refrigerant vapor from said header and means for actuating said apparatus intermittently to maintain the temperature of said second chamber between predetermined limits, said tube having a flow area smaller than the fiow area of said first evaporator, the construction and arrangement being such that the velocity of the gaseous refrigerant entering the tube during active periods of the compressing and condensing apparatus is increased to a value at which liquid refrigerant is carried in suspension in the gaseous refrigerant entering the tube, said tube being inclined for the gravitational fiow of liquid refrigerant to the first evaporator and the header during inactive periods of the compressing and condensing apparatus.

3. In a refrigerator having a first and a second food storage chamber, a first evaporator, a refrigerant header, said first evaporator and refrigerant header being arranged to cool said first chamber, a tube connected at one end with said first evaporator and at its other end with said header, said tube being located above said first evaporator and said header and forming an evaporator for cooling said second chamber, refrigerant compressing and condensing apparatus for supplying refrigerant liquid to said first evaporator and for withdrawing refrigerant vapor from said header and means for actuating said apparatus intermittently to maintain the temperature of said second chamber between predetermined limits, said tube having a flow area smaller than the fiow area of said first evaporator,

RAYMOND E. TOBEY.

REFERENCES crran The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,439,051 Anderson Dec. 19, 1922 2,345,714 Philipp Apr. 4, 1944 2,446,946 Norton, l Aug. 10, 1948 

